Monday was the anniversary of the June 12, 1993 election, rated as the freest so far, in which religious and ethnic considerations counted for nothing in the eyes of the electorate then.
Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olarewaju (MKO) Abiola Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was cruising to a landslide victory against his rival Alhaji Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Congress party (NRC) when the election was annulled by the ruling military junta led by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida a.k.a. IBB.
To-date, that remains a stain on Babangida’s profile. Had he allowed that election to stand, leading to return to civilian rule and subsequent passages of democratic rule to this day, IBB would have ranked as a hero of Nigeria’s democratic journey. As it is, that honour belongs to another of his colleague, a Nigerlite like himself, General Abdulsalam Abubakar. It is to General Abubakar’s credit that Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999 and has now enjoyed 24 years of uninterrupted democracy since he handed over authority to an elected Chief Mathew Okikiola Aremu Olusegun on May,29, 1999.
Because the electoral umpire at that time of which Dr. Humphrey Nwosu was the head did not officially declare results of that election before it was cancelled by fiat, MKO Abiola is not numbered among Nigeria’s heads of state. Rather, that infamous annulment plunged our country into a political logjam whose wounds festered until May 1999 when a healing process started.
Invalidating that election thereby truncating the return to democratic rule angered millions of Nigerians. It sowed the seed of activism in Nigerians some of whom teamed up to form NADECO – National Democratic Coalition. The military later sought to pacify Nigerians somehow, by setting up the Interim National Government (ING) headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, a former managing director of UAC (one of the largest companies in Nigeria) who is also from same Ogun state as Abiola.
However, this did not help matters as most Nigerians considered the ING an illegal government. Under this condition it was not long before the then Chief of Army Staff, General Sani Abacha (so appointed by Head of State, General Babangida when he ‘stepped aside’ after announcing establishment of the ING) disbanded the ING and announced himself as Head of State. Agitations for return to civilian rule and actualisation of June 12 continued in parts of the country.
Abiola was arrested and put under house arrest. Negotiations for his release were said to be ongoing, being brokered by some third parties too. It was said that one of the conditions given for his freedom was renunciation of his ‘mandate’. It was also said that Abiola rejected that proviso, insisting that he stood on June 12. From the moment of the annulment, the slogan, ‘’On June 12 we stand’’ became the singsong of those pushing for validation of that election… Soon afterwards, news broke that the acclaimed winner of that election had died in custody, mysteriously. Nevertheless, south westerners in particular believed that he was poisoned by the government. Abiola’s wife, his beloved Kudirat also died in the struggle as did some others that were killed during the countless strike actions called to press for de-annulment of that result, restoration of Abiola’s mandate.
The deaths resulted from clashes between the police and protesters as well as motor accidents suffered by people fleeing to their hinterlands to avoid the tensions in the western part of Nigeria, especially Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre. Lagos the epicentre of the struggle was intermittently locked down by the protesters in those years especially as they had an effective ally in the National Union of Petroleum Tanker Drivers (NUPENG) presided over by Frank Kokori.
Soon after Abiola’s mystery death, that of General Abacha, the Head of State followed suite, in a mysterious way too. Still, the seething and barely concealed anger against the military over Abiola, his wife and others’ deaths and the cancellation of that election continued unabated. So, when General Abubakar took over as Head of state upon General Abacha’s demise, he quickly announced a six-month time table for return to civilian government. They drafted Chief Obasanjo from prison to contest election under PDP. He won and governed for eight years, from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007. Obasanjo was of same Egba stock as Abiola, the reason being to ‘compensate’ the Yorubas for the annulled 1993 election which claimed lives. However, nothing can truly compensate for a life lost.
Although former president, Obasanjo disdained June 12 during his tenure by not recognising it, I believe his successor, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua but for his illness and subsequent short tenure, would have been sympathetic to the June 12 issue because of his progressive tendencies; and the fact that his brother, an army general also lost his life whilst in prison. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who took over from Yar’Adua was, I believe, aligned somehow with the June 12 cause but his hands appeared tied by the power brokers at the time, hence, his attempt to name what he considered a federal monument the University of Lagos, after Chief Abiola.
Eventually, former president, Buhari in 2019 took the giant step of recognising the monumental place of June 12,1993 in our political history, by giving a presidential order declaring it as ‘Democracy Day’. The National Assembly in May of same year gave it legal backing as a public holiday and we had the first official nationwide Democracy Day on June 12, 2020. Abiola was given Nigeria’s highest honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(GCFR), post humous; and his vice presidential candidate, Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON).
And with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, one of the arrow heads of the struggle against the military cancellation of that historic 1993 election and for speedy return to democratic rule as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria now, June 12 1993 has come full circle at full moon, thirty years after. In a way, there are some similarities between 1993 and 2023.
Chief Abiola from the south west zone was the presidential flag bearer of a progressive party as is Tinubu now of the All Progressives Congress party. Abiola’s running mate 30 years ago was a Kanuri from Borno State (Babagana Kingibe) as is President Tinubu’s running mate (now vice president), Kashim Shettima. Abiola ran on a Moslem/ Moslem ticket as did Tinunu. Abiola’s campaign theme was ‘Hope 1993’ and Tinubu’s was ‘Renewed Hope 2023’.
On the occasion of his first commemoration of June 12, 1993 as president, Asiwaju Tinubu pledged anew, the commitment of his new administration to ‘’diligently fulfil every component of our electoral pact with the people – the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda’’. The president stated that his administration shall be faithful to truth, faithful to equity, and faithful to justice. “We shall exercise our authority and mandate to govern with fairness, respect for the rule of law and commitment to always uphold the dignity of all our people’’, President Tinubu added. Those, are the ethos of democracy.
Ikeano writes from [email protected] 08034077519
